Blue White Illustrated

season after transferring from Georgia, Fields threw for 3,273 yards with a 41-3 touchdown-interception ratio and won Big Ten Player of the Year honors. In his lone season at Texas, Yurcich helped groom Ehlinger into one of the nation's top passers. Ranked No. 11 among all Power Five starting quarter- backs with an overall offensive grade of 80.1, Ehlinger completed 60.1 percent of his attempts for 2,560 yards and 26 touchdowns with just five interceptions in 10 games. On the night that Yurcich's hiring was announced, he and Franklin held a Zoom meeting with members of Penn State's 2021 and '22 recruiting classes in which the coaches discussed the direction of PSU's offense in the years to come. Sev- eral of those players had gotten to know Ciarrocca well during the recruiting process and were surprised by the an- nouncement. But they said their first impressions of Yurcich were positive. "I think his personality is great," said quarterback Christian Veilleux, a Class of 2021 member who signed with Penn State in December. "You can tell he's a high-energy type of guy who's very pas- sionate about what he does. I was able to talk to him one-on-one, too, and he said he's definitely excited to coach me and he's excited about what I bring to the table. He thinks this of- fense is a great fit for me." Beau Pribula, a quarter- back in the Class of 2022, said he was impressed with Yurcich's rapid rise from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference to high-profile programs in the Power Five. "Coach Yurcich explained his journey, which is pretty incredible: starting off at Shippensburg, a Division II school that my dad actually played football at, to going straight to Oklahoma State and tearing it up there. Then, to [Ohio State] and Texas, now Penn State. It's impres- sive," Pribula said. "Coach Yurcich is a very passionate and emotional guy. He's a competitor, and that's something I'm really drawn to." Other prospects simply expressed confidence that Franklin was making moves that are in the best interest of the program. "I feel [Yurcich] will be the reason for a lot of points and W's coming up," offen- sive lineman Nate Bruce said. "I have all the faith in Coach Franklin and anybody he brings onto the staff. I can't wait to learn and get to work." Added fellow lineman Landon Teng- wall, "I don't know much about Coach Yurcich, but I have all the faith in the world that Coach Franklin would only bring in the best of the best, and I can't wait to work with him." According to USA Today, Yurcich had been slated to earn $1.7 million with the Longhorns last year, but his actual salary was $1.56 million due to cutbacks in the athletic department's payroll brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Terms of his contract with the Nittany Lions were not disclosed. ■ Ryan Snyder contributed to this report. COVERED UP Penn State finished second in the Big Ten in total of- fense during Ciarrocca's lone, COVID-shortened season with the team. Photo courtesy of Penn State Athletics For the latest news on Penn State's o#-season, visit bwi.rivals.com.

• Cover